Atishi tells LG ‘not to raze religious structures’ in Delhi; LG office says ‘no such order’

The exchange comes a day after Saxena wrote to Atishi and expressed disappointment over Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal referring to her as a “temporary, makeshift CM”

Chief minister Atishi on Tuesday wrote to Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena, asking him not to demolish religious structures identified as encroachments as it would “hurt religious sentiments”, prompting the latter to respond that no places of worship were being razed in the city.

Delhi chief minister Atishi.

The exchange comes a day after Saxena wrote to Atishi and expressed disappointment over Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal referring to her as a “temporary, makeshift CM”, to which the chief minister responded, saying she was “amused” by the LG’s concern since “all elected members of the government are in fact temporary” because they remain in office only till the duration of their term.

In her letter on Tuesday, Atishi said: “It has been brought to my attention that the religious committee has ordered the demolition of numerous religious structures all across Delhi in a meeting dated November 22, 2024... It has been decided by the religious committee -on your directions and with your approval- to demolish multiple religious structures across Delhi. As you can see the list of religious structures to be demolished includes many temples and Buddhist places of working that are revered by the Dalit community.”

“Demolition of these structures would hurt the religious sentiments of these communities and on behalf of the people of Delhi, I would like to request you not to demolish any of these temples and places of worship,” she said.

The two-page letter, a copy of which was accessed by HT, listed six structures, located in West Patel Nagar, Dilshad Garden, Sunder Nagri, Seemapuri, Gokalpuri and New Usmanpur.

To be sure, encroachment removal pertaining to religious structures is cleared by the religious committee in Delhi. In 2009, the Supreme Court issued orders to “demolish/relocate/ regulate” unauthorised religious structures from all public places and barred any further occupation by such structures. In 2014, Delhi set up a “religious committee” headed by the home secretary to consider all such matters. Landowning agencies, such as MCD, PWD and NHAI, are expected to file requests for removal of such structures. The panel headed by the home secretary comprises representatives from the Delhi Police and landowning agencies.

In the letter to Saxena, the chief minister also said that until last year, the decisions of the religious committee were sent to LG via the CM and home minister.

“Until last year, all decision of the religious committee would be sent to you via the chief minister and the minister (home). As elected representatives who are constantly in touch with the people of Delhi, we would ensure that no religious sentiments were hurt... However, in an order issued last year, your office stated that demolition of religious structures is a matter related to public order... Since then the work of the religious committee has been directly monitored by you. All files of the religious committee are routed from the home department to the LG completely bypassing the chief minister and minister (home),” the CM said.

The LG secretariat was quick to hit back, saying “neither are any temples, mosques, churches or any other place of worship being broken/demolished, nor has any file to this effect come. CM is playing cheap politics to divert attention from her’s and her predecessor CM’s failures.”

The LG secretariat said: “ If at all, LG has issued strict instructions to the police to maintain extra vigil against forces who may indulge in deliberate vandalism for political benefits. His instructions are being strictly followed, as was witnessed during the just gone Christmas celebrations which did not see any untoward incident.”